Concrete wall form with load gathering and distributing members therefor



y 1, 1969 v G. F BOWDEN 3,452,960

CONCRETE WALL FORM WTTH LOAD GATHERING AND DISTRIBUTING MEMBERS THEREFOR Filed March :51, 1967 Sheet of 2 4o YINVEIN TOR GEORGE E B DEN By 7 fi /i244 A from ey July 1, 1969 G. F. BOWDEN 3,452,960

7 CONCRETE WALL FORM WITH LOAD GATHERING AND DISTRIBUTING MEMBERS THEREFOR Filed March 51, 1967 Sheet 2 of 2 I 42 14 I I 60 f [I]; /|4 I r a WWW]; I. 54 36 v 23 ZL 26 IN VE N TOR GEORGE BOWDEN Afforney United States Patent 3,452,960 CONCRETE WALL FORM WITH LOAD GATHER- INC AND DISTRIBUTING MEMBERS THEREFOR George F. Bowden, Northbrook, Ill. 60064 Filed Mar. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 627,512 Int. Cl. E04g 11/18, 17/06 US. Cl. 249-40 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to concrete wall forms of the type that comprises two upstanding, spaced apart sides in the form of rectangular plywood panels in edge-to-edge relation, and horizontal, tie rod variety fastening devices between the two form sides. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel load gathering and distributing member which functions as a vertical waler and, when employed in connection with a vertical series of cooperating, horizontally extending studs and also cooperating, specially designed she-bolts and other concrete wall form hardware, serves, in combination with such cooperating parts, to gather the load which is incident to the outward thrust of the poured wet concrete upon the plywood panels of the form and distribute the same among the associated, horizontally extending tie rod variety fastening devices which extend transversely across the form and connect the two sides thereof together. Additionally, the improved load gathering and distributing member or waler, when operatively installed in the wall form along with similar members or walers, affords an extremely rigid panel or sheath-reinforcing structure by means of which the mating panel edges are maintained in accurate vertical and horizontal alignment throughout the entire vertical and horizontal extent of the form. The provision of a load gathering and distributing member or waler of the character briefly outlined above constitutes the principal object of the present invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide for use in connection with a concrete wall form a load gathering and distributing member or waler which is of sheet metal construction to the end that it may be formed from a single blank of such metal by conventional sheet metal forming apparatus and equipment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a load gathering and distributing member which is extremely versatile in its application to various kinds or types of concrete wall forms in that it may cooperate with a varying number of vertically and horizontally disposed studs and horizontal tie rod assemblies to accommodate the requirements of widely dilferent wall form installations, such installations requiring no modification whatsoever of the improved load gathering and distributing member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide for use in connection with a concrete wall form a sheet metal load gathering and distributing member or waler which is capable of cooperating with tie rod assemblies or fastening devices of conventional construction in the performance of its normal load gathering and distributing functions.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a load "ice gathering and distributing member which is of the particular character set forth above and, in addition, is capable of reuse in successive concrete wall form installations, the dismantling of the particular installation serving to free the load gathering and distributing member and its associated studs and hardware without such damage or distortion as would preclude reuse of the member in another concrete wall form installation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will readily suggest themselves as the nature of the invention is better understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, such invention consisting in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one side of a concrete wall form installation employing a plurality of load gathering and distributing members embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of a fragment of the wall form side that is shown or illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the wall form side of FIG. 1 and in the vicinity of one of the she-bolts that are employed in connection with the invention and as parts of the fastening devices for the two form sides.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. 1, a fragmentary portion of one side of a concrete wall form is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 10, and it is comprised of a flat upstanding sheathing in the form of a horizontal series of vertically disposed rectangular plywood panels 12 which are arranged in edge-to-edge contiguity in order to provide said flat sheathing. It is to be understood that the wall form side 10 is opposed by a counterpart wall form side (not shown) of similar construction, and that wet concrete, for wall forming purposes, is poured between the two form sides in the usual manner of concrete pouring operations. After hardening of the concrete, the form is removed, as well understood in the art. The outward thrust of the poured wet concrete between the two form sides is assimilated by way of fastening devices in the form of composite tie rod assemblies which are designated by the reference numeral 14 and extend between the two form sides as is customary in the art. The present invention is concerned primarily with novel means for gathering the load which is applied coextensively to the plywood panels 12 of the form side 10 and distributing this load in a uniform manner among all of the various tie rod assemblies 14. Briefly, to accomplish this aim, the invention provides a horizontal series of novel spaced apart, vertically extending load gathering and distributing members 16, three of which are shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, together with a vertical series of spaced apart, horizontally extending studs 18, a horizontal series of spaced apart, vertically extending studs 19, and a plurality of vertical bearing plates 20, these particular parts, when assembled according to the present invention, effecting the desired load gathering and distributing function in an extremely efficient manner.

More specifically, each load gathering and distributing member 16 for the concrete wall form side 10 is in the form of a vertically elongated sheet metal waler which is generally of U-shape in cross section (see FIG. 4) and comprises a pair of nearly parallel but slightly inwardly or rearwardly divergent sides 22 and 23 and a connecting web 24 between the outer marginal portions or edges of the two sides 22 and 23, said sides and web being each substantially planar or flat. The inner edge portions of the sides 22 and 23 of each member 16 are provided with laterally and outwardly turned coplanar attachment flanges 26 by means of which the member may be attached to the outer face of the associated plywood panel 12 in vertically disposed and outwardly or forwardly extending relationship. The attachment is made by driving the shank portions of vertical series of vertically spaced, dualheaded fastening nails 28 through corresponding vertical series of vertically spaced nail holes 30 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) in the attachment flanges 26. The web portion 24 of each load gathering and distributing member 16 is provided with a vertical series of spaced apart, circular openings 31 and these openings are designed for cooperation with a vertical series of the previously mentioned horizontally and transversely extending tie rod assemblies14 in a manner that will be made clear presently. As employed in this specification and also in the claims appended thereto, the term tie rod assembly may be considered as being generic to any one of the entire aforementioned fastening devices, each such device comprising an expendable tie rod proper 32 which is disposed entirely within the space between the two aforementioned sides of the form and remains permanently embedded in the hardened concrete, a she-bolt 33 on the end of the rod proper that is adjacent to the wall form side 10, and a cooperating spreader fork 34, the nature and function of which will be made clear presently. It is, of course, to be understood that the other end of the tie rod proper has a similar she-bolt and a similar spreader fork.

Each side of each load gathering and distributing member 16 is provided with a vertical series of spaced apart, vertically elongated slots 36, the spacing between the pairs of adjacent slots being equal but the slots in the side 22 being vertically staggered with respect to the slots in the side 23. In between adjacent slots 36, each of the sides of each member 16 is provided with a relatively large rectangular stud-receiving opening 38, while rectangular, notch-like openings 40 are provided in the upper and lower end marginal portions of the sides 22 and 23, such openings 40 having one-half the vertical dimension of the studreceiving openings 38. The various openings 38 and 40 are arranged in pairs which are transversely aligned across each load gathering and distributing member 16 at the same elevation. A vertical series of spaced apart bolt holes 42 is provided or formed in each of the two sides 22 and 23 by means of which each member 16 may have selectively attached thereto the upper end of a suitable thrust reaction brace assembly such as is fragmentarily shown in FIG. l and designated by the reference numeral 44.

In the erection of a given concrete wall form embodying the form side 10, the various load gathering and distributing members 16 are nailed to the plywood panels 12 so that they extend in parallelism and also vertically as clearly shown in FIG. 1, the dual headed nails 28 being driven into the plywood through the nail holes 30 in the out turned attachment flanges 26. Thereafter, a vertical series of the previously mentioned horizontal studs 18 is applied to the members 16 by passing the studs endwise through the rectangular openings 38 in the manner disclosed in FIG. 1. In connection with application of the studs 18 to the members 16, the end regions of adjacent studs are caused to overlap as indicated at 52 in such a manner that each overlapping region finds support on the lower edge of two or more of the openings 38. Preferably, the studs 18 are in the form of lengths of 2" x 4" wooden stock. Prior to insertion of the studs 18 through the openings 38 in the sides of the load gathering and distributing members 16, the vertical edges of said opening 38 are lined with the previously mentioned bearing plates 20 in order to protect the studs from the sharp edges of the openings, as well as to distribute the thrust that is exerted by these studs against said vertical edges. The bearing plates 20 are coextensive with and disposed in the side of the members 16 and embody vertical series of spaced apart pairs of integral, laterally extending flanges 54 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) which straddle the portions of the sides of the members 16 that define the vertical edges of the stud-receiving openings 38. As best shown in FIG. 4, the flanges 54 on the outermost bearing plates 20 extend outwards and the flanges 54 on the innermost bearing plates extend inwards. Certain of the studs 18 may, if desired, be positioned in the notches 40. As shown in the drawings, the vertical edges of said notches are protected by bearing plates 20. Also, prior to insertion of the horizontal studs 18 through the openings 38 and the notches 40, a horizontal series of the vertical studs 19 is positioned against the outer face of the plywood sheathing and arranged so that said studs are disposed midway between adjacent members 16. The vertical studs 19 may, if desired, be secured in position by the application of a plurality of nails 58.

At an appropriate time during form-erecting operations, the tie rod assemblies 14 may be applied to the vertical load gathering and distributing members 16. As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, these tie rod assemblies are of conventional construction and as previously stated, each assembly includes a tie rod proper 32 and a she-bolt 33 at that end of the tie rod proper that is adjacent to the plywood panels 12 of the concrete form side 10. Each she-bolt is comprised of a threaded outer section 62 and a conical inner section 64 of small slant angle, and is provided between the two sections with an annular groove 66. The free or outer end of the inner section 64 of each she-bolt is socketed and threadedly receives therein the adjacent end of the associated tie rod proper 32, the threaded connection being indicated by the reference numeral 68 in FIGS. 3 and 5. The free or outer end of the threaded section 62 of each she-bolt is provided with a reduced squared lug 70 for cooperation with a suitable wrench by means of which the she-bolt may be unthreaded from the adjacent end of the associated tie rod proper 32 when dismantling the form as is conventional and well understood in the art. When the tie rod assemblies 14 are properly installed in the wall form side 10, the unthreaded conical sections 64 of the she-bolts 33 pass through holes 71 (see FIG. 4) in the adjacent plywood panels 12. The she-bolts 33 of the tie rod assemblies 14 have associated with them wing nuts 72 which, when flush with the outer ends of the threaded sections 62, establish the predetermined desired breakback in the hardened concrete.

When each tie rod assembly 14 has been properly positioned with respect to the concrete form side 10 as previously described, one of the spreader forks 34 is applied to the she-bolt 33 of the assembly by passing it through the adjacent pair of vertically outset slots 36. Each spreader fork 34 is in the form of a flat plate having a solid head portion 74 from which there projects in one direction a pair of fork tines 76. The latter at their distal or free ends are relieved on a curved bias to facilitate entry of the she-bolt between the tines. When the spreader forks are in their home position within the pairs of slots 36, the fork tines 76 straddle the annular grooves 66 in the central portions of the she-bolts, while the distal end regions of the tines are confined between the vertical side edges of the lowermost slots 36. The oblique disposition or vertical offset relationship of the slots 36 of each pair serves to locate the associated spreader fork 34 in a correspondingly oblique position where it is maintained in a stable condition against dislodgment under the influence of gravity. The normal tendency is for the fork to settle to its proper position rather than to fall out of position by gravity prior to tightening of the form parts.

With the various parts of wall form side 10 in their proper position as set forth above, the loosely applied wing nuts 72 may then be tightened on the threaded outer sections 62 of the she-bolts 33, thus placing the sides 22 and 23 of the load gathering and distributing members 16 under compression in the regions thereof which exist between the slots 36 and the webs 24 (such a region being indicated by the labelled bracket in FIG. 3) and thereby binding these portion securely between the wing nuts 72 and the spreader forks 34 so as to locate the form side in its proper spaced apart relationship with the opposite form side (not shown).

It is to be noted at this point that in the assembled concrete wall form side 10, the distance between each outer bearing plate .20 and the outer face of the sheathing that is formed by the plywood panels 12 is approximately equal to and preferably slightly less than the combined thickness of the two juxtapositioned studs 18 and 19 in the transverse direction of the form as a whole and that the effective horizontal Width of the stud-receiving openings 58 is slightly greater than the major width of one of the horizontal studs 18. Thus, when wet concrete is poured into the form, that is, between the two opposed but spaced apart form sides, the load is applied in compression through the vertical studs 56, in flexion through the horizontal studs, in compression through the outer bearing plates 20, and from thence through the intervening portions of the members 16 directly to the tie rod assemblies 14, a fairly uniform distribution of the total load being distributed to said tie rod assemblies. It should also be observed that the height of the openings 38 is somewhat greater than twice the minor or vertical transverse dimension of a horizontal stud 18 so that there will be no binding of the horizontal studs within the openings 38 during insertion of said studs therethrough, even where overlapping studs are concerned. The load gathering and distributing efliciency of the members 16 is greatly enhanced by proper positioning of the vertical studs 19 midway between adjacent members 16 where they lie along regions of maximum potential bulging of the plywood sheathing and, therefore, the pressure to which they are subjected will be divided substantially equally and transmitted by horizontal beam deflection in opposite directions along the studs 19 and ultimately to the tie rod assemblies 14 that are associated with the adjacent load gathering and distributing members 16.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts as shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, only insofar as the invention is particulary pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a concrete wall form for receiving poured concrete, in combination, a vertically disposed sheathing presenting an inside face against which concrete is adapted to be poured, and an outside face, a horizontal series of spaced apart, vertically disposed walers positioned against said outside face of the sheathing and secured thereto, said walers each being formed with a plurality of vertically spaced stud-receiving openings therethrough, the openings in adjacent walers being in horizontal alignment and thus providing superimposed horizontal rows of openings through the series of walers, a vertical stud positioned against the outside face of the sheathing substantially midway between each pair of adjacent walers, a horizontal stud projecting through each horizontal row of openings in the walers and in load-transferring contact with the vertical studs, a tie rod assembly including a tie rod proper and a removable she-bolt mounted on one end of the tie rod proper and provided with an annular groove therein, and a removable spreader fork projecting completely and loosely through the associated waler and projecting into said annular groove on opposite sides of the she-bolt for preventing appreciable shifting of the walers on the she-bolt, the combined thickness of said horizontal and vertical studs in the regions of contact therebetween and the disposition of the stud-receiving openings being such that the load of poured concrete is transferred from the sheathing through said vertical studs, said horizontal studs and said walers to the fastening devices successively and in the order named.

2. In a concrete wall form, the combination set forth in claim 1 and wherein each spreader fork has its longitudinal axis extending on an incline from the horizontal with its tines projecting forwardly and downwardly with respect to the axis of the fork.

3. In a concrete wall form, the combination set forth in claim 1 and wherein each waler is in the form of an elongated strip of sheet metal bent to generally U-shape configuration in transverse cross section to provide substantially parallel sides and a connecting web, is positioned with the distal edges of said sides bearing against the sheathing, and has its web spaced from the latter, said stud-receiving openings are in the form of transversely aligned pairs of rectangular cut-outs in said sides and the associated she-bolts of the tie rod assemblies project loosely through the webs of the walers.

4. In a concrete wall form, the combination set forth in claim 3 and including, additionally, elongated bearing plates loosely disposed in, and extending lengthwise of, the walers and positioned adjacent to the vertical edges of the cut-outs.

5. In a concrete wall form, the combination set forth in claim 4 and including, additionally, bearing nuts on the outer ends of the she-bolts and engageable with the webs of said walers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,859,503 11/1958 Hennig 249l9l 3,211,413 10/1965 Low 249 X J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

DE WALDEN W. JONES, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 249219 

